The Black Hole Of Degrassi
by motherbutterfly
Summary: When Tori Santamaria moves away from Toronto, she has trouble making new friends. That is, until she meets a girl that is very similar to herself, Angela Jeremiah.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, what I realized that when the Degrassi writers write characters off of the show other than graduating, they move away to another city in Canada, also known as the black hole of Degrassi. Since Alex Steele played two characters that both moved away, it made me wonder. What if both Angela and Tori moved to the same city and met each other? Even though I like my Eclare as much as the next person, I want to write about different characters. So, here goes. **

Chapter 1: Welcome to Alberta

At the end of her niner year, Tori Santamaria had to move to Alberta from Toronto. It's not like she had wanted to. Her dad got transferred so her family could maintain their wealthy status. Tori had not wanted to leave Degrasi. After that long year, she had finally reached a good place with her BFF Tristan and her other best friend, Maya.

Tori had been in the unfortunate position where she left right at the beginning of summer. When she finally reached Alberta, she had nothing to do. Tristan and Maya were off in Paris so she hardly ever heard from them. The school year wouldn't start until the fall so she committed herself to catching up on West Drive gossip and focusing on the pageant looks.

When the school year finally came around, Tori walked into her new school. The school looked like a normal high school, except larger than Degrassi had been. She found her classes easily and went to them. Everybody went off and found their group of friends and Tori realized how hard it would be for her to put herself out there. She was normally an outgoing person, but she had no idea where to start. Then she found a flier on the activities board.

"So you think you have spirit? Tryouts for cheerleading begin at 3:00 on the first day of school!"

Tori was excited. This was how she was going to make friends. She ended up on the Power Squad as a niner, which was quite an accomplishment. She wished she had more time to prepare since it was 12:30 when she was notified. During her free period, she went to the gym and practiced.

She walked into the gym at 2:45 so she could be early. She didn't want to risk being late since that didn't turn out so well at her old school. The head cheerleader walked out. She was a blonde girl with a high ponytail.

"Alright newbies. You think you're ready to be a cheerleader? Then you better show us what you can do."

So tryouts commenced. Tori watched some other girls do their routines. They were fairly basic but some of them had interesting moves, like cartwheels and back handsprings. Tori made a mental note that she would add some acrobatic move to her performance. She decided a back handspring and split would show off what she could do. She eventually did her routine, one of the ones she had learned for Power Squad. It was one of the move advanced ones that she had to learn for Regionals.

When she had finished, there was some whispering from the girls that already tried out while there was also some scribbling of the head cheerleader on her clipboard. Tori walked over and sat on the bleachers with the other girls who had tried out until the head cheerleader started to talk again.

"We have some tough decisions to make. The list will be posted tomorrow at 8:00."

The next morning, Tori was restless. She practically ran to school. She waited out by the bulletin board and checked her phone. There was a text from Tristan that wished her good luck. She saw the time and it was 7:52. She sat down on a nearby bench and waited.

Another girl showed up 2 minutes later. She was a pretty girl with short, dark hair. Tori was looking at her and realized they did look somewhat similar. The girl was tanner and her hair was pulled into a small braid. Tori recognized the girl from tryouts so Tori thought she should try talking to her. She didn't want to end up eating lunch alone again.

"Hi. Are you waiting for the cheerleading list too?" Tori said, a little louder than she should have.

"Um… yes. Hi. I'm Angela," the girl replied, "You're new here, right?"

"Yeah. My name's Tori, by the way. I just moved here from Toronto."

Right then, the blonde girl Tori saw yesterday, the head cheerleader, was posting the list on the board. Not being able to wait, Tori jumped off of the bench and ran over to the list. She read through all of the names two times and shrieked. She then walked away. On the bottom of the list was the last name. "Tori Santamaria"

She looked around and tried to find that other girl, Angela. She wondered if she made it. All of the other names she read faded away when she saw hers. She found Angela and she was glowing. They had both made it. Tori was overjoyed that she knew someone on the team now. Angela walked up to her and said, "I guess we get to spend the year together. Why don't you come over later so I can get to know each other? You said you lived in Toronto. Have you ever heard of a school called Degrassi?"

**AN: I decided to end the chapter there because it seems as though Tori is finally making a new friend. I assume this story will be fairly short, a few chapters. Thanks for reading, review if you like it or want me to continue soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I am on a roll today, adding more to two stories in the same day. I'm not very good at writing several part stories so bear with me please. If you have any ideas, let me know. By the way, I love references to other Degrassi characters and episodes. So, where was I?**

Chapter 2: It's a Small World

Tori walked down the road and tried to find the address Angela had written down earlier. She couldn't tell whether the address said 1386 or 1886. Tori learned that Angela did not have the neatest handwriting. She decided to guess and try 1886 Pleasant Street first. She came up to a pale green house that didn't look too depressing or threatening so she rang the doorbell. A tall blonde man came to the door.

"May I help you?" the man said.

Tori was a little intimidated. "Is this the Jeramiah residence?"

"No, that's down the road. My last name is Middleton." The man replied.

Tori felt dumb for reading the number wrong. She politely said thank you and walked away. She kept walking down the road until she found a blue house that had 1386 on the mailbox. She approached the door and rang the doorbell. A different man came to the door. He was bald and shorter than the blonde man. He seemed friendlier too.

"Hi. Are you here to see Angie?" the man greeted.

Tori was relieved to be in the right place this time. She answered yes and went inside. Mr. Jeramiah was very nice to her. They sat down and waited for Angela, or Angie, to come downstairs. When Angela finally came, she sat down next to Tori and they started talking about Tori's old house.

Earlier at school, the bell rang before Tori could tell her about Degrassi, Now was her chance. Angela's dad spoke first.

"Tori, Angie tells me that you're from Toronto. We used to live there, back when Angie was little."

Tori was surprised and after hesitating to respond, she said "Yeah. I went to Degrassi Community School last year. It was really fun."

A blonde woman walked into the room. She seemed around Mr. Jeramiah's age and looked like the person in the wedding picture on the mantle Tori recognized her immediately. Caitlin Ryan. The famous writer. She seemed interested that they were talking about Degrassi because she ended up talking next.

"I used to go there. Oh, and Joey too. Actually, so did Angie's brother."

Tori was meeting the previous generation of Degrassi students. It seemed too coincidental. Angela was just smiling, like she put this together beforehand. It puzzled Tori how though. Tori followed Angie as she went upstairs. They walked into a light blue room. There were some pictures on the wall and Tori assumed the boy in them were her brother. There was also a stuffed animal dinosaur on a shelf.

She sat down and then they began talking about themselves and their lives.

"So my dad decided to move to Alberta and eventually, he met up with Caitlin again," Angela finished.

Tori responded, "Wow. That sounds so sweet. How did you know I went to Degrassi before I even told you?"

"I found your Facerange page. You're the Tori from the West Drive Experience. That's my favorite show."

Tori felt happy, aside from the part where the girl had stalked her Facerange page. Tori wasn't a person to hold a grudge. They began to gossip about West Drive and the recent death of their favorite character, Gatsby Garcia.

The next day at school, Tori found Angela by her locker talking to a boy. He was taller than Angela, fairly skinny, and had light brown hair. Tori thought he was pretty cute. She walked over in the middle of their conversation. Angela introduced Tori to him.

"Hi Tori! This is my brother's best-friend's cousin. Tori Santamaria, meet Ryan Nash."

She just replied "hi" and then joined in on their conversation about the drama club. Tori caught herself glances at Ryan every once and a while but looked away when she realized she was staring. Then Angela and Ryan started talking about their band. That reminded her of Maya and Zig. She suddenly felt uncomfortable as she remember how poorly that turned out.

She really missed Maya so she left Angela and Ryan and during her lunch period, she went to the library. She logged onto her Facerange profile and saw that Maya was online because it was her free period.

Tori Santamaria: Maya! I haven't talked to you since school started! How's everything?

She watched as the screen said, _Maya Matlin is typing…_

Maya Matlin: Hey Tor! Everything is fine. Tris is great but you probably already knew that.

Tori quickly responded.

Tori Santamaria: How's Whisperhug?

Maya Matlin: Fine. Well… not really. Mo left, and so did Adam… so we kinda disbanded. It happens.

Tori felt bad when she read that. She heard about Adam. She didn't want to keep Maya waiting so she continued typing.

Tori Santamaria: I have a problem. Do you mind?

Maya Matlin: Sure Tor. I still have a little time before free period ends.

Tori Santamaria: Well I met this boy today and he seemed really nice and cute and he is friends with my new friend, Angela. I think I'm starting to have feelings for him…

Maya Matlin: I don't see the problem. Is he Angela's boyfriend or something?

Tori Santamaria: No, he just is in a band with her. Talk about déjà vu.

There was a pause on the screen. Then Maya began typing again.

Maya Matlin: I told you I was sorry about that.

Tori Santamaria: I believe you. That wasn't my point though. I just don't want to make the same mistake.

There was another pause. Tori looked at the clock. She had a few minutes before she had to leave. Then she looked at the screen again.

Maya Matlin: Ask Angela what she thinks of him. I have to go now. I'll talk to you later. Keep me posted! Good luck! Bye!

Tori stared at the screen again. She reluctantly replied "Bye" and walked to class. She still had to make it through a few periods before she would see Angela at cheer practice later. She just hoped she wouldn't run into Ryan before then.

**AN: As I wrote it, I sort of figured out the plot. I'll continue the story when I have free time. So thanks for reading. Review if you like it or have any advice. **


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hi everyone. I was disappointed by the lack of reviews or acknowledgement of people liking the story. I definitely took a while writing this. I did finish it eventually though. Unfinished fanfiction is one of my pet peeves. **

Chapter 3: The Truth Is…

_Riiing_. The school bell rang at the end of the day. "Finally." Tori thought as she walked toward the gym. She did not see Ryan all day because she skipped lunch to talk to Maya. She quickly changed into her gym clothes and ran into the gym to find Angela.

The team began to do warm-ups when Tori started to talk to Angela.

"So… what do you think of Ryan?" Tori asked.

Angela looked over at her. "Ryan? He's been my friend since I moved here. Like, childhood friend."

"But… do you _like_ him?"

Angela stuck her tongue out. "Ew, gross. He's like my brother. Do you know how gross that would be? Like, incest. Wait. Why? Do you?"

Tori looked down at her feet. "Maybe. He's pretty cute. I just wanted to make sure you didn't have feelings for him."

So they continued with cheerleading practice. Angela told Tori more about Ryan and Tori realized that he was so similar to her ex-boyfriend. Tori didn't like that thought. She didn't want to get involved with that again. She became scared of getting involved with him.

The next day, Tori found Angela talking to Ryan in the main foyer. She started to walk over to him but then turned away when Angela headed toward the library. She heard Ryan's voice from behind her yelling:

"Hey! Tori! Wait up!"

Tori reluctantly turned around and found herself looking at him. She couldn't help look into his deep brown eyes. They started talking about general things, movies, music, etc. Tori did like talking to him. In person he seemed way nicer to her than Zig had ever been. The bell was about to ring for homeroom when Ryan asked,

"Do you want to go to my cousin's art gallery later? She opened it in her spare time after she got money from her journalism career."

A date? With a guy that is sort of like Zig? Because that went so well, Tori thought. She just replied "umm… Can I get back to you?" Ryan nodded and walked away. Tori sighed. She wondered if it was a good idea or not.

She wanted to ask Maya so during lunch she found herself in front of the computer. Much to her dismay, the screen had the words "Maya Matlin is not online." She considered turning off the computer and then she saw it.

"Tori, I know it's been a while but I need your help. –Zig".

Tori was confused but she was not angry at Zig anymore. She could use his help too.

Tori Santamaria: Me too. You first.

Zig Novak: Maya hasn't talked to me at all this year. She was supposed to be my friend but she's all over this preppy guy.

Tori Santamaria: You mean Miles? She told me about him. He's so… actually never mind. Do you need advice or something?

Zig Novak: Sure.

Tori Santamaria: I think Maya has moved on. You probably should think about it too. There's got to be more cute girls at Degrassi since I left. I heard Zoë Rivas goes there! From West Drive!

Zig Novak: I guess you have a point. Thanks Tor. I'm still sorry for hurting you.

Tori Santamaria: I've gotten over it. Which reminds me… Would it be a bad idea to go out with someone that's… like you?

Zig Novak: Thanks Tor. That was reassuring. As long as he won't hurt you like I did I think you should go for it. Good luck.

Tori Santamaria: You too. Bye Zig.

And with her new found confidence, Tori went off to class. At the end of the day, Tori caught up with Angela after cheer practice. She told Angela about what happened throughout the day. Angela shrieked when she told her that she decided to go out with Ryan, even though she got kind of bored with art. She was more of a theater person after all.

Angela and Tori headed to the mall to try on clothes for their next cheer trip. Tori was looking through some jackets and she thought about what happened since she left her friends in Toronto. Tori was in a good place though. Tori thought, "The truth is, I'm going to like it here."

**AN: There. Cheesy ending, but at least it ends on a good note. I'll try to write more with other characters so check back if you want to read more. Thanks. **


End file.
